Global Biotechnology Wiki
A GLANCE AT BIOTECHNOLOGY IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES Global Biotechnology gives an overview of the perspective of biotechnology in underdeveloped countries like: Jordan Iran Pakistan Maldives 'BIOTECHNOLOGY: A NEW DAWN IN THE WORLD OF APPLIED SCIENCES' In the simplest and broadest sense, Biotechnology is a series of enabling technologies, which involves the manipulation of living organisms or their sub-cellular components to develop useful products, processes or services (McGloughlin and Re 2006 ). It dates back several thousand years to when people inadvertently discovered the usefulness of one-celled organisms like yeasts and bacteria. The ancient Egyptians, for example, used yeast to brew beer and to bake bread. Some 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia people used bacteria to convert wine into vinegar. And ancient civilizations exploited tiny organisms that live in the earth by rotating crops in the field to increase crop yields. They didn't know why it worked: Theophrastus - an ancient Greek who lived 2,300 years ago - swore that broad beans left magic in the soil. It took another 2,200 years before a French chemist suggested in 1885 that some soil organisms might be able to 'fix' atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants could use as fertilizer (Offley 1991 ). With the inception of biotechnology, it has maintained a close relationship with society. Although now most often associated with the development of remarkable drugs, historically biotechnology has been principally associated with food, addressing such issues as malnutrition and famine (Wiki: History of biotechnology ). '21st CENTURY BIOTECHNOLOGY' (Keener et al. ) Experts in United States anticipate the world’s population in 2050 to be approximately 8.7 billion persons. The world’s population is growing, but its surface area is not. Compounding the effects of population growth is the fact that most of the earth’s ideal farming land is already being utilized. To avoid damaging environmentally sensitive areas, such as rain forests, we need to increase crop yields for land currently in use. By increasing crop yields, through the use of biotechnology the constant need to clear more land for growing food is reduced. Countries in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere are grappling with how to continue feeding a growing population. They are also trying to benefit more from their existing resources. Biotechnology holds the key to increasing the yield of staple crops by allowing farmers to reap bigger harvests from currently cultivated land, while preserving the land’s ability to support continued farming. Malnutrition in underdeveloped countries is also being combated with biotechnology. The Rockefeller Foundation is sponsoring research on “golden rice”, a crop designed to improve nutrition in the developing world. Rice breeders are using biotechnology to build Vitamin A into the rice. Vitamin A deficiency is a common problem in poor countries. A second phase of the project will increase the iron content in rice to combat anemia, which is widespread problem among women and children in underdeveloped countries. Golden rice, expected to be for sale in Asia in less than five years, will offer dramatic improvements in nutrition and health for millions of people, with little additional costs to consumers. Similar initiatives using genetic manipulation are aimed at making crops more productive by reducing their dependence on pesticides, fertilizers and irrigation, or by increasing their resistance to plant diseases. Increased crop yield, greater flexibility in growing environments, less use of chemical pesticides and improved nutritional content make agricultural biotechnology, quite literally, the future of the world’s food supply. Latest activity Category:Browse